Norfolk phone sex pest admits making 465 obscene calls to women

A phone sex pest who bombarded women with hundreds of obscene and threatening calls has appeared in court.

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Used car salesman Daniel Andrews harassed nine women between March and December last year, making sexually explicit suggestions and threats to rape, King’s Lynn Magistrates’ Court heard today (Tuesday).

The 38-year-old, of The Oaks, in Ashill near Swaffham, targeted women who lived near him or had links to his work or school days, the court was told.

Andrews, a self-employed father-of-four, admitted persistently using the communication network to cause annoyance, inconvenience or anxiety between March 1 and December 17 last year and will be sentenced later this month.

He also admitted stealing four containers of an unknown value from his former employer, Feightroute based in Thetford, between January and December last year.

Yvonne Neil, prosecuting, said Andrews made 465 calls to nine women over the nine-month period. If the women did not answer or hung up, he would repeatedly ring back, she said.

Several times, he told one of his victims: “I know where you live, I’m going to come and rape you,” the court heard.

Police tracked Andrews down using his vehicle registration after he was seen on CCTV cameras buying mobile phone credit in Tesco at Watton, Ms Neill said.

He was arrested on December 21 last year and police searched his home, vehicles and sheds.

The phone he used most often was not recovered, but officers found three 25 litre diesel drums and a screen wash container belonging to Freightroute, the court was told.

James Burrows, mitigating, said Andrews had never been in trouble before and was remorseful. He had been with his partner for 20 years and had four children between the ages of eight and 16.

“This allegation has caused friction in the household,” he said.

Mr Burrows said Andrews had found the containers in a skip and filled them with his diesel himself.

The case was adjourned until November 27 for pre-sentence reports. Andrews was released on conditional bail and told not to contact any of his victims.

Speaking after the hearing, two of his victims described the devastating affect the phone calls had on their lives.

The first, a 31-year-old woman from the Swaffham area, said she was terrified in her own home, suffered nightmares and had considered moving.

“He has completely ruined my life and my business,” she said. “I won’t answer phone calls from any withheld numbers now and could not even answer my door.

“If he gets away with this, I’ll lose all my faith in the system. He should be punished.”

The second, a 32-year-old woman from the Norwich area, received well over 100 calls and said she needed closure before she could move on.